The Federal Asian Pacific American Council (FAPAC) announced that the May 2023 theme for Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander (AANHPI) Heritage Month is Advancing Leaders Through Opportunity. The full press release announcing this month's festivities can be found here.
Asian Pacific Islander Heritage Month (also known as Asian/Pacific American Heritage Month) is a celebration of Asians and Pacific Islanders in the United States. The Asia/Pacific region encompasses the Asian continent and the Pacific islands of Melanesia (New Guinea, New Caledonia, Vanuatu, Fiji, and the Solomon Islands), Micronesia (Marianas, Guam, Wake Island, Palau, Marshall Islands, Kiribati, Nauru, and the Federated States of Micronesia) and Polynesia (New Zealand, Hawaiian Islands, Rotuma, Midway Islands, Samoa, American Samoa, Tonga, Tuvalu, Cook Islands, French Polynesia, and Easter Island).
Celebrated in May, Asian and Pacific Islander Heritage Month commemorates the immigration of the first Japanese to the United States on May 7, 1843, and marks the anniversary of the completion of the transcontinental railroad on May 10, 1869, as the majority of the workers were Chinese immigrants. In addition, the celebration also highlights the significant contributions of Asians and Pacific Islanders to our society and highlights their traditions, cultures, and experiences.
From How artist Alok Vaid-Menon lives beyond the gender binary by Neeti Upadhye (Washington Post)
"It's hard to find the words to describe Alok Vaid-Menon. But that's precisely the point. The 31-year-old nonbinary artist has amassed more than 1 million followers on Instagram by leading a life beyond labels. In their work, Vaid-Menon aims to encourage others to understand that gender identity is fluid, unconstrained by societal expectations.
"The gender binary is the cultural choice to divide billions of complex souls into one of two categories: man or woman," Vaid-Menon said. "And that doesn't just hurt us as trans and nonbinary people; it actually hurts everyone, because it makes us only recognize people for what they should be, and not what they actually are." Full article
Chloe Kim is a professional snowboarder who is one of the sport's fastest rising stars. Kim started snowboarding when she was just four years old and emerged as a top contender by the time she was a teen. Along with being a multiple-time X Games champion, Kim earned a spot on the US Olympic snowboarding team for the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia, but she was too young to participate. Full bio
American teen Auli'i Cravalho had no professional experience when she auditioned for the role of a Disney heroine in a new animated film. The character, Moana, lives on an island in the Pacific and longs to explore. Cravalho got the starring role and began recording the songs for the film in late 2015. Full bio
Kamala Harris became the vice president of the United States in 2021, under President Joe Biden. With the win, she became the first woman, first African American, and first South Asian American to serve as vice president. She first learned about working for social justice while she was still riding in a stroller, pushed by her parents through the many protest marches in Berkeley, California, during the mid-1960s. The passion to protect civil liberties that had been ignited in her as a small child led Harris to choose a career in law and eventually to become the first African-American woman to be elected to the position of district attorney in the state of California. Full bio
The chief executive officer of the popular online shoe store Zappos.com, Tony Hsieh was an Internet entrepreneur who was able to develop a good corporate atmosphere for his employees, and who also understood the importance of providing excellent customer service. He had previously co-founded two other companies: LinkExchange, which was sold to Microsoft for a significant sum; and Venture Frogs, a firm that invested in Internet start-up companies. Full bio
Keanu Reeves is an American actor best known for his roles as Ted in the comedy Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure and as Neo in the science fiction action film The Matrix and its two sequels. Though Reeves began acting in the 1980s, it was not until the mid-to late 1990s that he became a popular star. Since then, he has gone on to star in numerous mainstream films. Full bio
Best known for her role as Kelly Kapoor on the hit situation comedy The Office, Mindy Kaling is an actress, writer, director, and producer. She works in all mediums and was the cowriter and costar of the underground theater sensation Matt & Ben. Along with her costars, Kapoor won several awards for her work on The Office before moving on to create and star in her own television series, The Mindy Project. Full bio
New York City native Awkwafina began her career with an entertaining series of rap videos that established her as a boundary-crossing performer. Since making her YouTube debut in 2012, the Queens-born Nora Lum effected a seemingly effortless transition into acting, appearing in two major box-office releases in mid-2018, Ocean's 8 and Crazy Rich Asians. The latter film's director, Jon M. Chu, was a longtime fan of the viral videos Awkwafina made and told the Washington Post that he permitted the novice actor some creative freedom with her character and dialogue. Full bio
Energetic and creative fashion guru Vera Wang became known as the designer to the stars in the 1990s with her trademark up-to-date wedding dresses, in addition to sleek evening gowns and elegant figure skating costumes. Using sheer materials and emphasizing minimalist styles, she has amassed a legion of famous fans from framed actresses and ice skaters who have made Wang a household name. Wang's creations are not just for the elite, however; she has a ready-to-wear line of bridal and evening dresses that can be found at stores across the nation. Full bio
Anna May Wong became America's first Asian American movie star before films could even talk. She maintained her popularity for more than a quarter of a century and remained one of the highest-salaried stars of her time. Full bio
The Japanese American architect Minoru Yamasaki (1912-1986) designed several iconic structures in the post-World War II United States and had a significant international career. He remains best known for his design for New York City's World Trade Center. Yamasaki's geometric designs fell squarely within the international modernist style pioneered by the German architect Ludwig Mies van der Rohe. Full bio
The program celebrates President Carter's bill proclaiming May 4 - May 10 Asian Pacific Heritage Week in honor of the cultural traditions of Asian Americans. Host Barbara Barrow-Murray speaks with Dr. David Sakura (part of Boston's Asian Pacific Heritage Week planning committee and member of the Japanese American Citizen's League) and Tin Yue Wan (a noted Chinese artist). Topics discussed include the meaning of Asian Pacific Heritage Week, the difficulties in getting the bill passed, the work of the Japanese American Citizens League, and Japanese detention camps in the United States during World War II.
A first-generation Indian American Brandon Raman has zero ties to India, and woefully cannot understand what makes him “Indian”. To get over feelings of isolation and alienation from his heritage, it takes a visit by a herd of (imaginary) ancestors to help him figure it out.
Rose is a Filipina undocumented immigrant teen, who dreams of leaving her small town in Texas to pursue her country music dreams.
The purpose of this film is to enhance our understanding of the cultural identity of the Pacific Islands, their civic life and their artistic achievement. Dances of Life examines dances from five island cultures: Maori, Samoan, Palauan, Chamorro (Guam), and Kanak (New Caledonia).
This series traces the story of Asian Americans, spanning 150 years of immigration, racial politics, and cultural innovation. It is a timely look at the role that Asian Americans have played in defining who we are as a nation. In an era of U.S. expansion, new immigrants arrive from China, India, Japan, the Philippines, and beyond. Eventually barred by anti-Asian laws, they become America’s first “undocumented immigrants.”
Hollywood Chinese is a revelation on a little-known chapter of cinema: the Chinese in American feature films. From the first Chinese American film produced in 1916 to Ang Lee’s triumphant Brokeback Mountain nine decades later, Hollywood Chinese brings together a fascinating portrait of actors, directors, writers, and iconic images to show how the Chinese have been imagined in movies, and how filmmakers continue to navigate an industry that was often ignorant about race, but at times paradoxically receptive.
The Samoan Heart follows two western-trained Samoan artists who embrace their heritage in their works. The Samoan Heart documents their personal journeys, struggles, and searches for self and the culture that sustains them. Part of the Pacific Diaries Series from Pacific Islanders in Communications.
Featuring traditional tattooing ceremonies, interviews, and a collection of tattoo body art, Skin Stories traces the roots of tattoos, highlighting individual stories and the evolution of cultural traditions in the Pacific. Skin Stories is an anthology of stories and stunning images gathered from the hotspots of Pacific tattoos.
In "Journey of a Paper Son," an elderly Chinese man (Jack Ong), who's dying from cancer, shocks his family when he reveals that he's a "paper son" (one who illegally immigrated to the U.S., using fake documents and claiming he's the son of an American citizen) and asks them for a final wish to change back his name.
This documentary, directed by Loni Ding, is about Chinese immigrants detained at Angel Island Immigration Station in San Francisco.
